


Insomnia

by AnonymityisCrucial



Series: Whumptober 2018 [3]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Bozer's a good friend, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Whumptober 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 11:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16241102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymityisCrucial/pseuds/AnonymityisCrucial
Summary: Day 3: InsomniaMac's been having trouble sleeping since he was a kid, the main problem being nightmares. After everything he's been through, his nightmares progressively get worse and worse. Luckily, he has a best friend who will help him through it.





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> This is hilarious. I'm writing a short story off an Insomnia prompt while sleep deprived. The hilarity is definitely due to the lack of sleep, I just know it. Also, I didn't edit. Again. I'll try to be better at it. Eventually.

The nightmares had been with him longer than anyone. He’d have typical nightmares for children, but his very vivid and much more horrifying that any other kid’s it seemed. Then his mom died and his dreams of her often morphed into terrifying nightmares. Then his dad left, causing more nightmares, this time having to do with abandonment and being lost. Those kept happening for years, and then his grandfather died when he was barely eighteen. He’d been shipped out soon after.

Nightmares were a constant in his life, but he refused to let anyone in his created family know. Sure Bozer knew about the nightmares from Afghanistan and he time serving, but Mac had gotten better at hiding them, and so Bozer assumed they had diminished over time. They hadn’t.

To combat nightmares, sometimes Mac just refused to sleep. He’d distract himself with project after project until morning came. Usually though, he’d just get so wrapped up in his own head and his own tinkering, he’d just forget to sleep. He was tired, of course, exhausted actually, but he couldn’t sleep. Too many memories trapped in his head that would be warped by his brain into nightmares that would leave him panting and close to tears upon jolting awake.

Bozer noted the bags under his eyes and gently scolded Mac for getting wrapped up in his newest project and forgetting to sleep. He promised to force Mac to bed that day. He doesn’t. He forgets by the end of the say, and Mac is left in the garage, tinkering with a motorbike he came across in a scrap yard. Some parts of it could be salvage and put to use, and Mac got the bike for free because the owner took a shine to him, seeing the blonde as his own son in a way.

Jack noticed his lack of talking and his exhaustion on the jet one day before a mission, and he brought it up, scolding Mac in a harsh, motherly way. He told him to get some rest as soon as the mission was over, and if he didn’t, Jack was going to tell Matty and have him suspended from working in the field until he was properly awake and present. Mac brushed him off. The mission went heads up as usual, and by the time they got back, they were all exhausted and dragging, which meant sleep was mentioned, but Jack never specified how much Mac needed to sleep for. He slept for four hours before he bolted upright, a scream barely contained. He spent the rest of the night and early morning pulling things apart and putting them back together.

Riley noticed how he dragged his feet and his fingers no longer fiddled with paper clips, just remaining still save for a few twitches every now and then. She asked if he was okay. He told her he was fine, just a little tired. He felt like he was blinking a lot, eyes feeling really dry, but if Riley noticed she didn’t say anything. She told him that she’s always there to talk. He acknowledged her and that was the last they spoke about the topic. Mac slept three hours that night before a nightmare woke him up. After he calmed himself, he actually tried to sleep again because he was utterly exhausted and ready to pass out. He managed two more hours before he was awake again and in the garage.

Matty noticed how slow his brain was running recently. She forced him to stay after a briefing one day and grilled him on what was going on. He told her he was having some trouble sleeping. All she told him was to try to get some more sleep, and recommended someone for him to talk to if he ever needed to. She seemed to know more than Mac had every told anyone, but she didn’t outright say it. He thanked her and went on with the mission. Jack got injured because his reaction time was slowed and Mac couldn’t stop blaming himself. That night, even after Jack assured him it wasn’t his fault at all, Mac was greeted with new nightmares, this time reliving the moment over and over, but when he really was too late, or when something went slightly more wrong. He got three hours total.

It was getting to the point where everyone seemed to be noticing, and Matty actually did bench him, saying that he could come in, but he’d have to stay in the War Room and just observe any missions. Mac stayed home and tried to sleep. He took melatonin and attempted to sleep. He got five hours before he woke up, more than he had in a while, but during that time, he was trapped in his nightmares. So despite getting more sleep than he had in awhile in one sitting, he felt even worse.

He could swear he heard the concern in the voices of his family, see the worry on their faces, and he hated it. He didn’t want to bother them, they didn’t need that. They all had their own problems. So Mac was content with keeping his nightmares to himself. Then Bozer showed up to his house while the blonde was passed out on the couch, thrashing about. He wasn’t needed for the latest mission, so Matty allowed him to leave to check on Mac. Turns out, it was a good thing he did.

Mac bolted upright, a scream strangled in his throat as his eyes darted around wildly, only to land on Bozer, who was standing a little ways awake, looking like someone just told him his dog died.

“Hey Boze, what’s going on? Why are you home so early?” Mac attempted to calm his ragged breathing as Bozer just stared at him with such sadness and concern.

“Mac….”

“Look Boze, I don’t really want to talk about it,” Mac replied, standing up and padding into the kitchen slowly, energy drained from his body. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water before sitting down at the breakfast bar. Bozer followed him, but instead of sitting, stood across from him so they could face one another.

“You might not want to, but you should. Is this why you’ve been so tired lately? Nightmares? I thought they were getting better.” Mac shook his head softly, head drooping to look at the water he was swirling in his glass. “How long Mac? Just how long have you been having trouble sleeping, having nightmares?”

“I dunno.”

“No, you do know, I know you know Mac. How could you not know? You remember basically everything else, you’re a damn genius, and you’re telling me you can’t remember how long you’ve been having nightmares?!” Bozer all but shouted. The volume was loud, but not loud enough to hurt Mac’s ears.

“I don’t know Boze okay?! I’ve been getting nightmares as far back as I can remember. It got worse when my mom died, and then my dad left, and then my Grandfather, and then serving, and now the Phoenix and I can’t remember the last time I actually slept more than five hours and I’m so, so exhausted and want to sleep, but everytime I close my eyes I get these flashbacks and what-ifs and Murphy’s Laws-type nightmares and I just can’t sleep Boze. I’m so, so tired,” Mac blurted, words spilling out before he could stop them, and by the end he felt tears in his eyes, so he swiped angrily at them.

“Mac, I don’t, I don’t know what to say. Why didn’t you talk to me, or Jack, or Riley, or anyone?”

“You all have enough to deal with as it is, I didn’t want to bother you.” Bozer shook his head, slamming his hands on the counter, causing Mac’s head to shoot up to face his best friend, who also had tears in his eyes. 

“Bullshit Mac. I don’t care how much I have to deal with, I’d happily be bothered by you. You’re my best friend, my brother, we’ve been friends for years. You can tell me anything and you can always count on me to be there for you alright? I’ll always be there for you just like I know you’ll always be there for me. Tell me Mac, if I was having trouble sleeping because of nightmares, would you want me to tell you?”

“Yeah….”

“Exactly. So, what’s the play here?”

“What do you mean?” Bozer shook his head.

“I mean, with the whole nightmare situation. What’s the plan? Are you going to talk to me? Talk to Jack? Riley? Someone else? Whatever you decided to do Mac, I’m 100% behind you unless you decide to be stupid again and keep all this shit it in for years.”

“Matty recommended someone for me to talk to. I think she knew what was going on before I was ready to even say anything about it.”

“Alright, great, make a call as soon as possible, and by that I mean pretty much right now.”

“Okay Boze, will do.” Mac grabbed out his phone and wandered to find the card with the number on it. Bozer followed, staying a few feet away, looking deep in thought.

“Hey Mac?”

“Hmmm?”

“If I hadn’t come home to find you having a nightmare, would you have ever told me?” There was a beat of silence and Mac looked up from what he was doing.

“Do you want the truth?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t know. Probably not.”

“Are you good with how this all played out though?”

“Believe it or not, I’ve never loved your terrible timing more.”

“Hey, what are best friends for?”


End file.
